Medicine dropper construction



July 31, 1956 H. D. MUNDAY MEDICINE DROPPER CONSTRUCTION Filed April 15, 1953 4n w I m we t Z A 7} s o H H y b United States Patent O MEDICINE DROPPER CONSTRUCTION Horace D. Munday, Schenectady, N. Y. Application April '15, 1953, Serial No. 349,075 13 Claims. (Cl. 128 -233) This invention relates to medicine droppers and has particular relation to the type of medicine dropper that is combined with a bottle closure or cap.

One object of this invention is to provide a medicine dropper of the type that will reach to any part of the bottom of a medicine bottle when the cap is unscrewed.

This object may be obtained by a medicine dropper with a flexible connection to the cap, which permits enough movement of thedropper relative to the cap for the dropper to reach the lowest portion of the medicament in the bottom of the bottle.

The conventional medicine bottle has a dome-shaped bottom, or convex bottom looking from the inside.

In the conventional combination of a medicine dropper and bottle cap the dropper is rigidly connected to the cap, thus permitting no motion of the dropper relative to the cap. Consequently the end of the dropper is made short enough to clear the bottom of the bottle, so that the cap can be screwed on tightly without the end of the dropper tube striking the bottom of the bottle and interfering with the seating of the cap. When the medicament in the bottle gets low the remnant collects in a ring around the periphery of the bottom of the bottle, leaving the dome of the bottom bare of medicament.

Obviously the dropper cannot reach this remnant even when the cap is screwed on tight, for the tube of the conventional dropper is in line with the apex of the dome of the bottom, over which there must be a suflicient depth of the medicament so that the end of the dropper tube reaches the medicament.

When the definite number of drops of the medicament, saw two or three, is prescribed for the eyes or nostrils, it is inconvenient to screw the cap OE and on several times, even if by so doing all the remnant of the medicament could be reached. Often the technique of a person using the dropper is not perfect and more than 2 or 3 drops of the medicament often get into the dropper tube. If an attempt is made to eject the surplus till only the proper dosage of 2 or 3 drops remains, air bubbles may get into the dropper tube and vitiate the accuracy of the dosage and the effectiveness of its application. Attempts to tilt the bottle and let the medicament run down near the bottle neck so it can be reached with the dropper tube, may result in spilling of the medicament.

When an overdosage is drawn into the dropper tube it is often a better technique to eject all the medicament and try again to get the exact 2 or 3 drops with a small inspiration. Several attempts may have to be made before the exact dosage is obtained. Obviously considerable time would be consumed if the cap has to be screwed on and off in an attempt to get the right dosage. However, if all operations are carried on with the cap. unscrewed, repeated attempts to get the right dosage will consume very little time, with a general increase in the accuracy in the dosage.

In a dropper made according to this invention, the cap is unscrewed once and screwed back once, no matter how many applications are made at one time or how low the medicament or fluid is in the bottle. The dropper bulb and tube are flexibly secured to the bottle cap so that the dropper in a normal position does not strike the bottom of the bottle, but maybe caused to reach any part of the bottom of the bottle by easy manipulation of the dropper and/ or cap. The bottle can always remain securely seated on the table, with no necessity to lift it and tilt it to get out all of the medicament or fluid.

The construction and operation of this improved dropper will be made clear in the description and drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a side view, partly in section, of a fluid dispenser, such as a medicine dropper, embodying this invention, in position on a bottle, with the cap screwed on;

Figure 2 is a side view, partly in section, of a fluid dispenser, such as a medicine dropper, embodying this invention, with the cap off, the dropper tube being positioned to reach the last drops of medicament in the bottle;

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary side view, partly in section, of the dropper before it is mounted on the bottle cap;

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary side view, partly in section, of a modification of the dropper shown in Figure 3; r

Figure 5 is a side view, partly in section, of another modification;

Figures 6-11 illustrate variations of the flexible connection and the manner in which it is secured to the fluid dispenser and the cap.

In Figures 1, 2 and 3 showing a preferred form of this invention, reference character 1 indicates the deflatable bulb of the dropper, 2 the flexible connection or skirt, with its thickness rim 3 dimensioned to fit snugly inside the'cap 4 under thecap shoulder 5. The cap is provided with threads 6 to engage the neck 7 of the bottle 8 which has dome-shaped bottom 9.

.In Figure 1 the dropper is shown in position with the bottle closed, the cap 4 being screwed on tight, the flexible connection or skirt 2 being positioned like an inverted funnel. In Figure 2, the dropper is shown in use, the cap 4 being unscrewed and the dropper tilted at an angle to reach the periphery of the bottom 'of the bottle and draw out the lowest portion of the medicament. It is clear from Figure 2 that if an overdosage of the medicament is drawn up in the tube 10 it can be quickly ejected and another attempt made to get the exact dosage prescribed.

In the modification shown in Figure 4 the flexible connection or skirt 11 is mounted on the dropper tube 12 by means of the collar 13, integral with the skirt.

In Figure 5 the skirt 14 is formed and dimensioned to fit snugly over the bottle cap 15, this mounting outside the cap being in contrast to the inside mounting in the form shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3. The skirt 14 is integral with the bulb 16.

In Figure 6 the flexible connection or skirt 17 has a neck 18 fitting the dropper tube 19. The skirt has the thickened rim 20 for mounting inside the cap 21. The skirt is integral with the dropper bulb 22.

Figure 7 shows how the neck 18 of the skirt 17 in Figure 6 telescopes on itself when the dropper is advanced to reach the more remote parts of the bottom of the bottle.

In Figure 8 the flexible connection or skirt 23 is mounted on the outside of the cap 24, as in Figure '5. The flexible connection is integral with the bulb 25 and closely surrounds tube 26.

In Figure 9 the flexible connection 27 is mounted on the dropper tube 28 and on the outside of the cap 29.

In Figure 10 the flexible connection 30 has a neck and is mounted on the dropper tube 31 and inside the bottle cap 32.

In Figure 11 the flexible connection 33 has a neck and is mounted on the dropper tube 34 and outside the cap 35. With a flexible connection slidably adjustable on the dropper tube, as in Figures 9, 10 and 11, one dropper may be used on several sizes of bottles.

The flexible mounting may be made of any satisfactory material which is sufliciently flexible to permit easy manipulation of the dropper with respect to the cap. For example, the flexible member may be made of rubber.

While this invention has been described in relation to specific embodiments by way of example, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that fluid dispenser assemblies in accordance with this invention may take a variety of forms and may be used to dispense a variety of fluids.

What is claimed is:

1. An assembly comprising a fluid dispenser, a cap member, and means flexibly securing said fluid dispenser to said cap member to permit motion of said dispenser in all directions with respect to said cap member.

2. An assembly comprising a fluid dispenser, an apertured cap member, and means flexibly securing said fluid dispenser to said cap member to permit motion of said dispenser in all directions with respect to said cap member.

3. An assembly comprising a fluid dispenser, an apertured cap member, and means flexibly securing said dispenser to said aperture in the cap member to permit motion of said dispenser in all directions with respect to said cap member.

4. An assembly comprising a fluid dispenser, a cap member including an aperture, a flexible member secured to said cap and to said dispenser mounting said dispenser through said aperture to permit motion of said dispenser in all directions with respect to said cap membet.

5. An assembly comprising a fluid dispenser including a hollow tubular member with a flexible bulb sealed to one end of said tube, a cap member including an aperture, a flexible member secured to said cap and to said flexible bulb for mounting said dispenser through said aperture to permit motion of said dispenser in all directions with respect to said cap member.

6. An assembly as defined in claim 5 wherein said flexible member passes through said aperture and is secured within said cap.

7. An assembly as defined in claim 5 wherein said flexible member is secured to the outside of said cap.

8. An assembly comprising a fluid dispenser including a hollow tubular member with a flexible bulb sealed to one end of said tubular member, a cap member including an aperture and a flexible member secured to said cap and to said tubular member mounting said dispenser through said aperture to permit motion of said dispenser in all directions with respect to said cap member.

9. An assembly as defined in claim 8 wherein said flexible member passes through the aperture in the cap and is secured within said cap.

10. An assembly as defined in claim 8 wherein said flexible member is secured to the outside of said cap.

11. In combination a fluid container including an opening, an apertured cap member adapted to cover said opening, a fluid dispenser including a hollow member adapted to be filled with fluid from said container and a flexible member secured to an inner portion of said cap and passing through said aperture to connect to said fluid dispenser to permit motion of said dispenser in all directions with respect to said cap whereby all portions of said container may be reached by said hollow member.

12. An assembly comprising a fluid dispenser, a cap member having an aperture, a flexible invertible skirt connecting said cap member to said dispenser, said flexible skirt inverting at a central portion thereof and advancing toward the inside of said cap member with said dispenser when pressure is applied to the dispenser.

13. An assembly comprising a fluid dispenser, a cap member having an aperture, a flexible skirt extending through said aperture and secured to the inside of said cap member and said dispenser, said flexible skirt inverting at a central portion thereof and advancing toward the inside of said cap member when pressure is applied to the dispenser.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 599,461 Thomas Feb. 22, 1898 726,038 Fitzsimmons Apr. 21, 1903 1,304,304 Garhart May 20, 1919 2,090,354 Massman Aug. 17, 1937 

